Ch. 164 - Ghost Story (1)

Chapter 164: Ghost Story (1)

Hong Bi-Yeon and Eisel.

They represented blazing red flames and chilling blue ice.

The two were completely opposite, yet subtle similarities could be found if one looked closely.

First, they both intentionally had high pride to protect themselves.

Second, if they have a question, they relentlessly delve into it until the end no matter what.

Third, they both harbored a deep interest in someone.

Their commonalities overlapped in a strange way, erasing the polar properties and creating a strong friction in the atmosphere.

When the two sat together in the library, many heads bent over.

It seemed quite intriguing to other students.

"Hey. Look over there."

"The princess and that traitor...."

"Shh. Who calls her that these days? Don't you have any sense?"

"Um, yeah... Right. Sorry."

Lately, the perception of the Morph family had been gradually changing due to Eisel.

Despite being branded as the child of a traitor, and being the target of many disdainful and mocking gazes, she persevered and excelled in Stella, achieving the top rank.

Furthermore, she introduced new possibilities for elemental magic and reached Class 4 at the young age of seventeen.

Her unwavering sense of justice in any situation became a lesson for many aspiring magic warriors.

In reality, among the common people and lower-class students who didn't hold any particular bias against the Dark Mage Traitor, she enjoyed considerable popularity.

Teenagers couldn't help but get caught up in the rags-to-riches story of a youth rising above extreme circumstances.

Because of that, even though the table occupied by Eisel and Hong Bi-Yeon had eight seats, no one dared to approach them.

Or rather, it would be better to say they couldn't.

The two of them were leaning their heads together, and discussing something in a hushed tone while taking notes.

Looking at the pile of thick book, they were obviously onto a great task.

In such a case, who would dare to invade their domain?

"They're not researching regular school assignments but something extraordinary in magic."

"Yeah. They’re different from us ordinary students."

"Shh. Let's pass by quietly."

So, ultimately, the topic of their potential subject became a talk of the town.

They attracted the awe and reverence of their fellow students.

[What are Noble Souls?]

Truly, the research on souls, which was still unproven and seemingly useless in the advancement of magic...

No mage had yet revealed the essence of the soul.

Due to the association of sorcery with dark mages, this field had not progressed properly.

Furthermore, necromancy involved a significant philosophical aspect, and it was not solely within the realm of magical research, leading to its disgraceful title of 'zero contribution to magical advancement,' making it an ignored discipline by all.

There were even tearful stories of a few students who starved for credits and tentatively stepped into the subject, only to end up failing due to dozing off during class.

[Human souls can never be noble.]

[At the moment of birth, they commit filial impiety by causing pain to their mothers.]

[To purify a tainted soul requires diligent effort, but since humans accumulate sins even before developing consciousness, they cannot erase them despite a lifetime of effort.]

[If even purifying a tainted soul is difficult, can one imagine how hard it would be to acquire a noble soul?]

The research on noble souls was filled with negativity from the first page, but from the next, countless instances from history were listed.

[However, surprisingly, there were individuals in history who came close to possessing noble souls.]

[Their great and sublime achievements cleansed countless sins committed throughout their lives.]

In conclusion.

'Humans cannot be noble, but if they contribute to the world or sacrifice themselves, they may possess souls close to nobility.’

That's how it could be summarized.

"I don't quite understand."

Studying in such a field was new to Hong Bi-Yeon, so she pressed her temples as if she couldn't quite grasp it.

A similar reaction came from Eisel, who groaned but managed to explain some parts reasonably well.

"When you look at the list of noble people in history, most of them were called 'saints' or 'holy women.'"

Those were the great figures who generously sacrificed themselves for the sake of others, shed their own blood to wipe away the tears of others.

Most of them couldn't even use divine magic.

According to historical records, the common people were deemed unworthy of learning divine magic.

However, they healed others without divine magic, advanced medicine, led wars to protect their people, researched alchemy to create potions, and eventually became great mages.

Saints and holy women... truly manifested their justice in various ways in the world.

They were completely different from the saints and holy women arbitrarily appointed by the Holy Kingdom.

They were real individuals whose names people naturally revered...

Those were the individuals who came closest to acquire a noble soul.

There was an issue here.

"Even these individuals, while they came close to acquiring a noble soul, they didn't fully possess them, right?"

"... That's right."

Humans couldn’t possess noble souls.

No one had ever broken that absolute proposition.

However... It was shattered by the Baek Yu-Seol.

It was truly remarkable, but unfortunately, due to a lack of interest in necromancy, no one understood how incredible and magnificent it was.

Hong Bi-Yeon closed the book.

There was no need for further research or deliberation.

The conclusion was clear.

"... I roughly understand."

"Yes, that's right..."

Baek Yu-Seol had undergone countless regressions...

How many lives had he harmed?

Even from the brief glimpse given by Star Archive, Baek Yu-Seol's life was tainted with blood, and he had committed unforgivable sins.

The countless sins were not enough to stain his soul completely black, and moreover, he somehow possessed a soul so bright it blinded the eyes.

According to the books, the conclusion was simple.

Baek Yu-Seol sacrificed his life countless times to save the world.

It was a sacrifice which overshadowed his sins, and as a result, he eventually possessed a noble soul.

The girls couldn't even imagine the process which led to the final result.

They just painfully realized their own immaturity.

What's a genius mage? And what's a talent blessed by magic?

The Adolevit royal family?

The Morph family?

Those who praise such superficial shells were... nothing but ignorant fools.

The real deal existed elsewhere.

The person with the greatest name in the world was quietly living.

Suddenly, Hong Bi-Yeon felt ashamed of her own life so far.

The days of living under the guise of being a princess of the Adolevit royal family.

All those actions of ignoring others under the guise of equality; she felt so ashamed that she wanted to erase them all if she could.

"..."

After tidying up the books, Hong Bi-Yeon silently got up and left without a word.

She didn’t even bother to speak goodbye.

Although they had just sat down to read the same book for a while, the atmosphere between her and Eisel remained tense.

Eisel also didn't try to stop her from leaving or even look at her.

She just remained frozen, attentively finishing reading the remaining pages.

"This is..."

Although it was meaningless to continue reading, the girl's curiosity was intense.

Curiosity about the unknown realm.

Eisel delved deep into it, and found something quite interesting.

[... The most recent figure who came close to possessing a noble soul might be ‘Abeline Starberg.' Although he has now dedicated his soul to the underworld and chosen to become a dark mage, he gained fame as a graduate of the Stella Academy…]

‘Abeline Starberg, a grand mage from Stella and a dark mage.

Eisel knew that name well.

Her father had talked about him when she was young.

"That person was quite eccentric. To the extent that during his time at Stella, he even sent the entire 7th Tower to the opposite side of the world."

"Impressive..."

"If you think it's impressive, it is. Even the missing tower, it's said that not even the headmaster could retrieve it, and now it's completely gone. Moreover, there was no 7th Tower during the time I was studying."

She thought that story was about half a century ago.

Now, because he had become a dark mage, the history of Abeline in Stella had been completely erased.

Elthman Elwin detested dark mages, and buried everything in secrecy.

So, now, the existence of the '7th Tower' was just a rumor among the students.

"Hmm..."

Eisel knew the truth behind that rumor to some extent.

She heard the story from her father, who experienced a major event at Stella at the time.

"The 7th Tower..."

That was it for studying.

She soon closed the book.

All her curiosity had been satisfied.

———

There were countless rumors at Stella Academy.

Along with a history of over 100 years, various and strange mages who could leave a mark in history had stepped foot in the academy.

Even with the academy grounds as vast as a small town, it was a place where rumors couldn't help but arise.

Among them, while some rumors could be dismissed as too unrealistic and nonsense, if one were to count the few rumors that students truly believed as true, the '7th Tower rumor' could be considered one of the most famous one.

※ There is no 7th Tower in the main building.

※ If you happen to enter the tower marked with the number 7 while passing through the corridor between the towers, immediately turn back with the same pace as usual.

In this case, even if you hear a female student calling you from behind, please ignore it.

※ If a student wearing a white uniform leads the way in the corridor of the 4th Tower, do not follow. There is no white uniform in the academy.

※ Do not cross from the 6th Tower to the 3rd Tower at midnight. At this time, if you happen to pass through the 3rd Tower and find a stained mirror, avoid eye contact.

If you accidentally make eye contact with yourself in the mirror, immediately close your eyes and count to 100 before proceeding.

Nothing will happen.

… And so on.

Just the rumors related to the 7th Tower alone numbered more than ten, showing how much interest students had in rumors related to it.

Naturally, nothing had been confirmed as true.

A student who grew up hearing rumors about the 7th Tower once said that even after decades, when he became a professor, he had never seen the 7th Tower.

But every few years, there were students who claimed to have entered the 7th Tower for some inexplicable reason and then dropped out, so the rumors continued to spread anew every year without any signs of disappearing.

"Does it really exist?"

"No way. The principal even announced its non-existence, didn't he?"

"Yeah. But isn't it more suspicious that the professors keep telling us not to mention it?"

True.

Like most rumors, the topic quickly changes with no signs of any truth, and it's soon forgotten.

But, Flame had recently started paying attention to this 7th Tower rumor again.

She was trying to grasp the truth behind that rumor through the 'original novel."

"It's just a rumor, isn't it..."

Anella looked at Flame investigating the 7th Tower with a skeptical gaze.

The initial terrifying atmosphere was nowhere to be found, and seeing her chasing after such rumors and gossip made her appear like a hopeless girl.

… Sometimes when she manifested her dazzling magic, it made her feel uncomfortable, but anyway, that was that and this was this.

"Yeah. Just rumors. But why has there been so much talk about it lately?"

After the Academy Battle ended, a week passed, and within the academy, special summer ghost stories became popular.

So, it was not surprising that rumors were also spreading, right?

However, the 7th Tower rumor was particularly vivid and strangely widespread.

It was as if students wanted to know more about the 7th Tower.

Flame understood the reason, but she didn't explain it to Anella.

Revealing the truth from the beginning was like revealing the end before the story unfolded.

"Still, it definitely exists."

In the original novel, the rumors about the 7th Tower were deliberately spread by Professor Maizen Tyren.

But now that he was gone, the fact that stories about the 7th Tower were so abundant even without him spreading rumors...

It implied that someone else, who could replace Maizen Tyren, existed with 100% certainty.

So, finding that person was the key.

Fortunately, Anella, who could distinguish between different dark mages, accompanied her.

It should be possible to identify those who spread rumors even if they did not appear in the original novel.

By questioning and confirming with Anella, the game would be over.

It could prevent one of the worst-case scenarios, the ‘7th Tower dark magic corruption incident,’ from happening before it was too late.

"So, do you really think one of the professors is the culprit?"

"I'm not sure. But let's investigate first, or maybe pass."

It was not unusual for students to approach professors.

Flame was an honor student and had knowledge in various fields, so it wouldn't be strange for her to visit a professor who she felt wasn't teaching well and ask questions about the subject.

There were many suspicious individuals.

So, Flame planned to meet them one by one to identify the suspects.

It was a very primitive method, but it was the most reliable method available to a student.

"Well, shall we go?"

"Yeah..."

As Flame confidently headed towards a professor's research lab, Anella followed behind with a worried expression.

Meanwhile, across the corridor, someone who had been secretly observing Flame’s movements stealthily moved away.

After staring at the research lab, they turned away with silent steps.

There was no trace left of their existence, and only silence lingered in the empty hallway.

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